Monitoring site access via an intervening control layer within a client is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a computerized system includes a plurality of sites, a monitoring server, and a client. Each site has content referenced be addresses. The monitoring server maintains a database of permissible content on at least one of the plurality of sites, where the permissible content is also referenced by addresses. The client has an intervening control layer within an otherwise standard mechanism by which programs running on the client access the content on the plurality of sites. The intervening control layer polls the monitoring server to determine whether a program attempting to access content on one of the sites as referenced by an address should be permitted to do so.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A computerized system comprising: a plurality of sites, each site having content referenced by addresses, the sites hosted on one or more servers; a monitoring server, distinct from the one or more servers, maintaining a database of permissible content on at least one of the plurality of sites, the permissible content referenced by addresses; and, a client having an intervening control layer within an otherwise standard mechanism by which programs running on the client access the content on the plurality of sites, such that the intervening control layer polls the monitoring server to determine whether a program attempting to access content on one of the sites as referenced by an address should be permitted to do so.
2. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the client maintains a cache of permissible content on at least one of the plurality of sites so that subsequent permission to programs running on the client to access the permissible content can be given without repeated polling of the monitoring server.
3. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the permissible content of the database maintained by the monitoring service comprises all hypertext-markup-language (HTML) pages located at a site.
4. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the permissible content of the database maintained by the monitoring service comprises an incomplete portion of all hypertext-markup-language (HTML) pages located at a site.
5. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the content on a site comprises a plurality of hypertext-markup-language (HTML) pages located at the site.
6. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the content on a site comprises a plurality of hypertext-markup-language (HTML) located within at least one particular directory on the site.
7. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of sites, the monitoring server, and the client are communicatively coupled to one another through the Internet.
8. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein each address by which content is referenced comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL) address.
9. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein each address by which content is referenced comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
10. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the otherwise standard mechanism of the client comprises a socket services program and a TCP/IP handler program.
11. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the otherwise standard mechanism of the client comprises an Open Transport program.
12. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the otherwise standard mechanism of the client comprises a WinSock program.
13. A computer comprising: a processor; a computer-readable medium; a standard mechanism executed by the processor from the medium by which programs running on the computer access content on a plurality of sites, the sites hosted on one or more servers; and, an intervening control layer within the standard mechanism executed by the processor from the medium, such that layer polls a monitoring server, distinct from the one or more servers, to determine whether a program attempting to access content on one of the sites as referenced by an address should be permitted to do so.
14. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the standard mechanism comprises a socket services program and a TCP/IP handler program.
15. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the layer includes a cache of permissible content on at least one of the plurality of sites so that subsequent permission to programs running on the computer to access the permissible content can be given without repeated polling of the monitoring server.
16. The computer of claim 13 , further comprising an Internet connection, such that the standard mechanism accesses the content on the plurality of sites through the Internet and the layer polls the monitoring server through the Internet.
17. The computer of claim 13 , wherein each address by which content is referenced comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL) address.
18. The computer of claim 13 , wherein each address by which content is referenced comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
19. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the computer-readable medium comprises memory.
20. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a nonvolatile storage medium.
21. A server comprising: a processor; a computer-readable medium; and, a computer program executed by the processor from the medium to receive polling from clients to determine whether a client program attempting to access content on one of a plurality of sites as referenced by an address should be permitted to do so, the sites hosted on one or more servers and distinct from the processor and computer program, such that in response to the polling the computer program returns whether the client program is permitted to access the content on the one of the plurality of sites.
22. The server of claim 21 , wherein the server maintains a database of permissible content on at least one of the plurality of sites, the permissible content reference by addresses.
23. The server of claim 21 , wherein the server comprises an Internet web server, and a database server.
24. The server of claim 21 , wherein the computer-readable medium comprises memory.
25. The server of claim 21 , wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a nonvolatile storage medium.
26. A computerized method comprising: generating at a program running on a client a request to access content at a site as referenced by an address so, the site hosted on one or more servers; receiving the request at a standard mechanism on the client by which programs running on the client access content on a plurality of sites; intercepting the request by an intervening layer within the standard mechanism on the client; determining at the intervening layer whether the content is present in a cache of content previously determined to be permissible; upon failure to determine that the content is present in the cache, polling by the layer of a monitoring server distinct from the one or more servers to determine whether the content is permissible; determining at the monitoring server whether the content is present in a database of permissible content; and, permitting by the layer to the program running on the client to access the content upon determining that the content is permissible.
27. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program to cause a client computer having an intervening control layer within an otherwise standard mechanism by which programs running on the client access content on a plurality of sites to perform the computerized method comprising: generating at one of the programs running on the client a request to access content at one of the sites as referenced by an address, the sites hosted on one or more server computers; receiving the request at the standard mechanism; intercepting the request by the intervening layer; determining at the intervening layer whether the content is present in a cache of content previously determined to be permissible; polling by the layer of a monitoring server distinct from the one or more servers to determine whether the content is permissible upon failure to determine that the content is present in the cache; and, permitting by the layer to the one of the programs running on the client to access the content upon determining that the content is permissible.
28. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program to cause a monitoring server to perform the computerized method comprising: receiving polling from a client computer at a computer distinct from one or more servers hosting content on a plurality of sites to determine whether particular content on one of a plurality of sites as referenced by an address is permissible; determining whether the particular content is present in a database of permissible content; and, indicating to the client computer whether the particular content is permissible, wherein the client computer includes an intervening control layer within an otherwise standard mechanism by which programs running on the client access content on the plurality of sites.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 1, 1997
September 3, 2002
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